Budget day looms for Falkirk Council with significant cuts expected

dailyrecord.co.uk:

On Wednesday, Falkirk Council will meet to set its budget for the year ahead - the last before May's elections, which could see a significant change to the ranks of councillors.With an unprecedented budget deficit of £29 million, the council's chief executive, Kenneth Lawrie, says that just managing to bridge that gap while maintaining a strong sense of direction has been an achievement in itself.To get there, they have had to employ various measures - notably using a large chunk of reserves, changing how they repay debt and raising council tax.As a minority administration, the SNP cannot rely on its proposals being passed on Wednesday.But whatever the outcome, at least some of the suggested savings will have to be adopted in order to meet legal requirements.Falkirk Live brings you the latest headlines from Falkirk and beyond.But did you know all the ways you can stay informed with us?We share live news and exclusive scoops every day so make sure you're following us so we can keep you informed on all things Falkirk!Whether that will include drastic measures such as cutting school budgets, closing public toilets or scrapping free dog poo bags remains to be seen.The leader of Falkirk Council, Cecil Meiklejohn, acknowledges it has been a difficult budget to do "without having any impact whatsoever".While they have tried hard not to cut services, the measures that have allowed this are "very much one-off", she warned."We have used a huge chunk of our reserves this year which is quite unprecedented and once you've spent that, you can't put it back."However, she added that there were projects in this year's budget that would help the council transform the way it delivers services."Our transformation programme is going to be